Well-screen



M. E. LAYNE.

WELL SCREEN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9. 191?.

1,366,087. Patnted Jam 18, 1921.

attozneq g UNITED STATES MAHLON E. LAYNE, 0F MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

WELL-SCREEN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

Application filed May 9, 1917. Serial No. 167,424.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAHLON E. LAYNE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Memphis, in the county of Shelby and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Well-Screens, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to screens'for'use in oil or water wells, and has particular reference to that well known form or style of screen which consists of a perforated casing or tube wrapped with a helix of screening wire, and it has for its primary object the provision of a screen of the character de-* scribed wherein the strands of the helix are accurately spaced apart over the perforations and positively held against movement up or down on the casing,

, Another of the primary objects of the invention is the provision of ascreening surface which is depressed and comes below the contour of the body portions of the casing-H To put it in another way, the portions of the helix coming opposite to solid portions of the casing are made to project be yond the portions coming opposite to -perforations, which serves greatly to protect the screening areas when insertin the screen into the well, especially where t e formatlon encountered is very jagged or rough as in the case of rock format1ons.

These, together with such other objects as may hereinafter appear, or. areincident to my invention, I secure .by means of a construction which I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section of my improved well casing or tubing; and Fig. 2 is a partial cross section of Fig. 1.

The casing is indicate'd by the numeral 7, the perforations by 8, and the helix of screening Wire by A,.only a portion of which is shown. 'Adjacent the perforations are formed flattened grooves 9 which are adapted to receive the strands of the helix as they pass over the perforations. As clearly appears .in the drawings, these grooves are begun a short distance from the edges of the perforations and deepen toward the edges so that the deepest part of the groove comes mmediately at the perforations. In wrapping the wire, it will, of course, be evident since the strands of the helix are adapted to fit downinto these grooves that they will become flattened out and present a straight surface 10 which will be considerably below the surface of other portions of the screen as clearly'shown in Fig. 2. A section of such construction may-be inserted and revolved during insertion with very little danger of breaking or tearing the strands of the helix over the perforations, and not only are the strands thus protected but also are they accurately spaced and positively held against longitudinal movement.

In order to strengthen the construction as a whole, the spaces between the strands of the helix where they come opposite the solid portions of the casing may be filled in, if desired, with cement. This, it will be evident, will provide a very strong and rigid construction, and will prevent any tendency which may be present for the strands to move longitudinally of the casing over the solid portions thereof.

I claim:

' L'A well screen comprising in combination a perforated casing, grooves formed in the casing adjacent the perforations, said grooves gradually deepening toward the perforations, and a helix of screening wire wound on the casing the strands of which are adapted to fit into said grooves.

2. A well screen comprising in combination a casing,.perforati0ns in the casing, depressed portions adjacent the edges of the perforations. and screening wire wound on the casing, the portions of the wire adjacent to perforations being adapted to project into the depressed portionsto provide a straining surface which does not extend outwardly as far as do solid portions of the screen.

, In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

MAHLONI E. LAYNE. 

